Salamandastron
:This article is about the book. For the mountain, see Salamandastron (place). Book Divisions (English) *'Book 1:' Questors and Runaways *'Book 2:' Warriors and Monsters *'Book 3:' Destinies and Homecomers Summary The young badger Mara runs away with her best friend, Pikkle Ffolger, from her home, the mountain of Salamandastron, displeased with her adoptive father Urthstripe's stern authority. Urthstripe is a Badger Lord of Salamandastron and rules his mountain with a firm paw. Kindhearted, he is also stubborn and, although he worries about his daughter's safety, he refuses to run after her. Later Mara and Pikkle return to Salamandastron in the company of a weasel called Klitch and a ferret Goffa. Urthstripe is angry because Mara took two vermin to the mountain, and they argue fiercely, while Klitch and Goffa are locked in their rooms. In the camp of Ferahgo the Assassin and his horde, a fox named Dethbrush and his six trackers report that two stoats Thura and Dingeye hasn't been found yet. Ferahgo sends the trackers on the journey again. At Redwall Abbey, a young squirrel called Samkim and his molefriend Arula are punished for frightening a kind hedgehog wife Faith Spinney in the orchard. Samkim is warned about their careless using of bows and arrows. Samkim and Arula are escorted to the infirmary of the Abbey to complete their punishment. The next morning, after breakfast, Klitch and Goffa are guided out of Salamandastron. Mara is infuriated with what she believes is an injustice, and she and Pikkle chase after their friends. Klitch asks Mara about the treasure of the badgers, but she says that she doesn't know anything about the treasure. Urthstripe gets two hares, Sapwood and Big Oxeye, to follow Mara and Pikkle. Two stoats, Dingeye and Thura, who deserted Ferahgo's army, end up near Redwall Abbey. They sneak inside the Abbey and are caught by the otter Thrugg. The stoats cry and plead that they should stay in the Abbey and Abbess Vale agrees, but the stoats are put to work in the kitchen to keep them out of trouble. Mara, Pikkle and Goffa set up camp and Klitch steals away, saying that he is going to scout the land ahead. Actually Klitch goes back to the camp of his father, Ferahgo, to report. They plan to capture Mara and Pikkle and keep them as hostages in order to get the treasure of the badgers. Sapwood, who has followed Mara and Pikkle, warns them about Ferahgo and Klitch and urges them to escape. The two youngsters obey, and Sapwood leads some of Ferahgo's horde another direction. Pikkle and Mara hide inside the cave among the dunes. They hear that they are pursued by three trackers: Migroo, Sickear and Dewnose. Pikkle tries to sleep, expecting his friend to take the guard duty, but Mara falls asleep. The two friends are awakened by a lizard named Swinkee, who attacks them. A struggle follows and Swinkee loses his tail. The lizard is angry that the badger and the hare have destroyed his cave. Pikkle promises that they'll repair the cave and promises to give a lot of insects to the lizard, if Swinkee guides them to Salamandastron. Swinkee agrees. At Redwall, Abbess Vale names the season "The Summer of the Lazy Trout". Redwallers arrange for the big feast for the new season. During the sport contest, a storm ruins the fun and all the creatures go back inside the Abbey. Tudd Spinney notices that he forgot his glasses on the stairs of the west wall and Samkim and Arula promise to get them back. As they walk across the lawns of the Abbey grounds, lightning strikes on the weathervane and the sword of Martin the Warrior falls from the roof, landing by Samkim's side. During the night, Thura and Dingeye wake up and wander inside Great Hall. They begin to play with the bows and arrows, which are used in the sport contest. They accidentally kill the Abbey Recorder, Brother Hal. The stoats flee from the Abbey, taking the sword of Martin with them. Samkim wakes up and discovers the body of Brother Hal. The young squirrel is surprised by Friar Bellows, who is shocked to find Samkim near the dead Brother. Samkim is falsely accused of the murder of the Abbey Recorder. With Arula, he sets off to retrieve the sword of Martin the Warrior, which had been stolen. As the stoats flee, Thura suddenly dies of what turns out to be Dryditch Fever. Later Arula and Samkim find the dead stoat and meet a woodvole Furgle the Hermit. Furgle tells the youngsters to bury the body of the stoat and the vole goes off to Redwall to warn its dwellers about Fever. Mara and Pikkle wake up and find out they are the "foodslaves" of the toadking Glagweb, because of the betrayal of Swinkee. They meet a shrew Nordo, who is a son of Log-a-Log. Nordo tells them that his father and Guosssom are coming to rescue them. Samkim and Arula stop to eat lunch and are attacked by angry wasps. An old hedgehog called Spriggat saves them. While Samkim and Arula camp, Spriggat finds the body of Dingeye, who has been killed by Dethbrush and his trackers. Not long after Samkim leaves, the denizens of Redwall realize they are contracting Dryditch Fever. The otter Thrugg and a Dibbun dormouse named Dumble quest for the fabled Flowers of Icetor to heal the afflicted. Ferahgo with his horde arrives in Salamandastron. Urthstripe and ten Long Patrol hares parlay with Ferahgo. A battle erupts. Urthstripe and the hares retreat to the mountain and block the entrance. Guosssom rescues "foodslaves" from King Glagweb and marshtoads. Glagweb is thrown into the slavepit with a pike. Ferahgo makes a plan for his horde to attack the mountain, while a fox, Farran the Poisoner, sneaks into the mountain and poisons the drink and food supplies. Farran kills a female hare called Windpaw. Later a young hare Shorebuck is killed by the poisoned food. Mara and Pikkle arrive at the home of Guosssom. Log-a-Log tells Mara about the Blackstone, which has been lost by Nordo in the island of the Great Inland Lake. He asks Mara to help retrieve it and she agrees. The Guosssom and their friends begin the journey to the island. Thrugg and Dumble meets a young falcon Rocangus, who is injured. Thrugg bandages his wing and the falcon agrees to lead them to the Northern Mountains. The trio continue the journey. Later they are attacked by crows and are saved by the father of Rocangus, Laird Mactalon and his falcons. On the Great Inland Sea, the Guosssom is attacked by the Deepcoiler and a shrew called Tubgutt attempts mutiny against Log-a-Log. Log-a-Log battles him and the mutiny is stopped. Ferahgo's horde begins to tunnel under Salamandastron, but their attack is foiled when Urthstripe floods the tunnel with boiling water. Sapwood, Big Oxeye and Pennybright go scouting to the shore for food. Sapwood and Oxeye are captured by Klitch, but Pennybright manages to escape back to Salamandastron. The Deepcoiler renews his attacks on the Guosssom and most of the shrews survive, but they are injured. Mara rescues Tubgutt from Deepcoiler and he becomes a friend of Mara. As the shrews arrive in the island, they hear the terrifying cry of "Eulalia!" in the night. Sapwood and Oxeye free themselves and Oxeye pushes Sapwood out to the sea on a piece of wood. Oxeye battles with the horde and escapes. Later he arrives to Salamandastron, bringing food with him. Thugg and Dumble climb the Northern Mountains to meet Wild King MacPhearsome, who guards the Flowers of Icetor. Thrugg asks the Wild King to give him some of the Flowers of Icetor. King disagrees and Dumble attacks him. Amused by the Dibbun, MacPhearsome gives them the Flowers of Icetor and flies to Redwall with Dumble. Tubgutt, Mara and Pikkle meets Ashnin, Loambudd and Urthwyte, who is in fact a twin brother of Urthstripe. Mara tells Loambudd about Urthstripe and the old badger tells Mara how Ferahgo killed Urthwyte and Urthstripe's parents. The Guosssom stay in the island for awhile before they set off for Salamandastron to aid Urthstripe against Ferahgo. Samkim, Arula and Spriggat, with the aid of the rivershrews, catch up to Dethbrush and his trackers on Great Inland Sea. A battle ensues, interrupted by the Deepcoiler. Dethbrush and his rats are slain. The Deepcoiler is killed by Martin's sword, which is embedded into its mouth. The sword is lost with the Deepcoiler into the depths of the lake. Later Spriggat died due to the wounds taken from Deepcoiler during the attack. Wild King MacPhearsome and Dumble arrive in Redwall with the Flowers of Icetor. All the dwellers of the Abbey are healed. Mara and Samkim's paths eventually cross, and the badgermaid gives Martin's sword (which she found from the shore of the island) to Samkim. When the entire group returns to Salamandastron, they find Urthstripe, seized by the Bloodwrath, who leaps from the top of the mountain, taking Ferahgo with him. Urthwyte stays on as Badger Lord; Samkim, Arula, and Mara go back to Redwall. [[:Category:Salamandastron Characters|Characters in Salamandastron]] Awards *Lancashire Libraries Children's Book of the Year Award *Nominated for the Carnegie Medal (1992) Release details *1992, UK, Hutchinson Children's Books Ltd., ISBN 0091764335, Pub. Date: August 1992, Hardcover *1993, US, Philomel Books, ISBN 9780399219924, Pub. Date: March 1993, Hardcover *1994, UK, Red Fox, ISBN 0099143615, Pub. Date: January 1994, Paperback *1994, US, Ace, ISBN 9780441000319, Pub. Date: March 1994, Paperback *2007, UK, Red Fox, ISBN 1862301417, Pub. Date: August 2007, Paperback *2007, US, Red Fox, ISBN 1862301417, Pub. Date: September 2007, Paperback *2010, US, Firebird Books, ISBN 9780142501528, Pub. Date: January 2010, Paperback Category:Books Category:Redwall Books